He was born the son of a rector in Stettin in what was then northwest Germany (now Szczecin, Poland) and went to school in the town of Anklam.
After gaining his Abitur (school leaving certificate) he studied mathematics and physics at Göttingen University, where he was influenced by the philosopher Herman Nohl.
Bollnow received a doctorate in physics in 1925 and successfully completed his habilitation with Georg Misch at Göttingen in 1931.
[1] In 1933 Bollnow signed the Vow of allegiance of the Professors of the German Universities and High-Schools to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialistic State.
Bollnow developed the work of Wilhelm Dilthey on hermeneutics and was concerned with the philosophical foundations of pedagogy.